Alabasta.
In a small café in the desert.
Behind the counter, the café owner, a woman with a blue afro, rested her chin on her hand, staring out the window in boredom.
This place was remote, and it could go months without a single customer, but today, several guests had unexpectedly arrived.
A cold-faced, taciturn bald man.
An eccentric transvestite in heavy makeup and a pink coat.
A long-faced man with a Type 3 hairstyle and glasses.
A cute little girl with two braids, holding a drawing board.
A plump woman and a tall, overweight man with a sausage dog.
A scruffy-haired man in a trench coat wearing sunglasses, and a young woman with a decent appearance holding a parasol.
No one would have expected that such a small café would gather all the high-ranking officials of the notorious Baroque Works.
"It's quite rare to see all the senior executives of the organization gathered…"
The owner mused curiously, "Could it be that we'll finally meet that mysterious boss? Who could it be?"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at the bald man sitting at the main seat's left.
The man was named Daz Bones, once a famous bounty hunter in the West Sea, and now the top-ranked assassin under the boss—Mr. 1!
He was the only one among them who had met the boss and was the boss's trusted aide, issuing many commands and directives.
However, facing the silence of the crowd, Mr. 1 did not speak, maintaining his usual silence, but the oppressive atmosphere he exuded made everyone wary.
An awkward silence filled the air.
Suddenly, a knock sounded again, and the owner hurried to open the door.
As the door swung open, a handsome young man with a tall stature stood there, smiling at her.
This face… seemed somewhat familiar?
Although Baroque Works was a criminal organization, they operated as bounty hunters on the surface to conceal their illicit activities, so she had a vivid impression of some bounties.
The young man was quite handsome and looked very familiar, but he shouldn't be a recent bounty criminal.
The blazing sun overhead and the scorching heat of the desert made it hard for the owner to keep her eyes open.
She quickly racked her brain to recall the identity of the man before her, from celebrity singers to the Navy, and from the Navy to pirates, from millions to over a hundred million bounties…
Finally, a bounty poster fixed itself in her mind, and upon recalling the amount on that poster, her expression suddenly changed. Despite the sweltering heat, she felt a chilling sensation!
"Ms. Shandia, real name Sara, Mr. 1's assassin partner, an undercover agent of Baroque Works in Alabasta, and the owner of this café…"
Caesar smiled gently, "Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?"
"Y-yes, please come in!"
Sara swallowed hard, humbly stepping aside to let Caesar enter the room.
The moment she saw Caesar's face, everyone's expressions in the room froze.
"Nice to meet you all…"
Caesar scanned the room, naming each person: "Mr. 1 Daz Bones, Mr. 2 Bon Clay, Mr. 3 Galdino, Mr. 4 Babe, Mr. 5 Gem, Ms. Golden Week Marianne, Ms. Christmas Dorothy, Ms. Valentine Mikita…"
"Very well, everyone is here."
"Jin Caesar."
Mr. 1's face turned serious: "What are you doing here?"
"Wait, what do you mean by 'what are you doing here'?"
The transvestite Bon Clay exclaimed in shock, "Isn't he our BOSS?"
Mr. 1 fell silent.
He was fiercely loyal to Crocodile, but to be honest, the bounties under Caesar's command were in the hundreds of millions, while they were just a bunch of lowly fish… it felt a bit unworthy.
Comparing his boss to the young man before him…
No, there was no comparison.
Not in terms of strength or influence.
"Sorry, everyone."
Caesar casually walked to the main seat beside Mr. 1, leaning back in the chair and propping his legs on the table.
"Your former boss, Crocodile, has already been taken care of by me."
As soon as the words fell, everyone's expressions changed.
As bounty hunters, they were no strangers to Caesar's reputation; this young man was someone who could stand toe-to-toe with the Four Emperors at just eighteen.
Even with a bounty of 2.8 billion, many had already recognized him as the fifth pirate emperor of the seas!
This is…
They had originally thought this big, rough man was their boss.
But it turned out he was the one who had taken down their boss!
"Don't worry, if I wanted to take you out, I wouldn't waste my breath here. After all, your heads aren't worth me trudging through the desert under this blazing sun."
Caesar said cheerfully, his words cutting deep into everyone's hearts.
"You want to recruit us?" Mr. 1 asked in a low voice.
"Exactly, you're all Devil Fruit users, especially you two…"
Caesar raised his index finger, pointing at the terrified Bon Clay and the dazed Galdino.
Mr. 1 felt a bit uneasy; although he was loyal to Crocodile, Caesar's behavior of ignoring him, a strong man, while placing importance on two lower-ranked assassins felt like a slight.
"Imitation Fruit and Wax-Wax Fruit have their uses in certain aspects, but to be honest, I don't like criminals."
"This esteemed sir! I-I-I can change!"
Before Bon Clay could say anything, Galdino jumped in, nervously rubbing his hands with a sycophantic smile.
"Ah, actually, we were forced to join Baroque Works. You don't know, Crocodile is simply brutal; if any of the executives fail a mission, he sends someone to take them out. Many have already died in my position before me…"
Galdino eagerly approached Caesar, pouring him coffee with a fawning demeanor.
He also discreetly signaled to his partner, the little girl Ms. Golden Week.
The little girl was quick-witted; noticing Galdino's reaction, she hurriedly nodded, looking at Caesar with a pitiful expression.
"Exactly!" (A characteristic phrase of little Bon, sounding like "yo.")
Bon Clay quickly chimed in, complaining about Crocodile's brutality.
"I was also recruited into the organization without knowing what was going on; if it weren't for that bastard BOSS, I would have already gone to my dreamland!"
"Dreamland?"
Caesar tilted his head slightly: "Kamabakka Kingdom?"
"You know?"
Bon Clay was momentarily stunned, looking at Caesar in disbelief, tears glistening in his eyes: "Could it be… you're also—"
Before he could finish, a flash of crimson appeared, and he was sent flying, his cheek swelling as if he had been punched.
Caesar's face darkened: "The transvestite king Ivankov is a friend of mine."
"Turns out you're toothless!"
Upon hearing this, Bon Clay, momentarily forgetting the pain in his cheek, hurriedly approached Caesar, unable to contain his excitement.
"Sir! I'm willing to follow you! But I hope one day I can meet my idol!"
"Alright, I'll grant you that. Once my goal is achieved, I'll send you to Kamabakka."
"So… what kind of place is that?" Galdino asked cautiously.
"The Transvestite Kingdom, a nation full of transvestites. Do you want to go?" Caesar asked.
"N-no, of course not!"
Galdino chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his hands: "Ah, I just want to follow Lord Caesar and do my part."
"Good, what about the others?"
Caesar turned to Mr. 1: "What do you say?"
"The surrender of these guys is understandable; after all, they've never dealt with the BOSS, but I am a follower of the BOSS."
Mr. 1 stated succinctly: "Since you've chosen to follow, there's no reason to surrender like this."
"Exactly."
Caesar raised an eyebrow: "Who else isn't surrendering?"
"Uh… we surrender!" Gem and Mikita spoke up in a panic.
"Alright."
Caesar looked at the two, feeling somewhat speechless.
Their names might be a bit unfamiliar, but the codenames Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine were known to anyone who had seen pirates.
To be honest, Caesar really wanted to take out this snot-nosed guy.
Such a useful ability, and this guy used it to flick snot; it was hard to take seriously…
Ms. Valentine was alright, she looked a bit like the girl next door, but her exaggerated laughter made it hard to take her seriously, and her ability was only average.
"Um! We… we also surrender!"
Ms. Christmas shouted loudly, while frantically signaling to Mr. 4 across the room.
But the other party, looking foolish and simple-minded, clearly didn't understand her meaning.
"And you?"
Caesar looked at Ms. Shandia, who had been standing quietly since entering: "What do you say?"
Ms. Shandia helplessly raised her hands: "I seem to have no choice."
Caesar nodded, turning back to Mr. 1: "So what do you think? Are you going to seek revenge for Crocodile and challenge me? Or will you leave and return to your old profession as a bounty hunter?"
"If the BOSS has been taken down, doing nothing would be too disgraceful."
Mr. 1 slowly stood up, looking at Caesar like a tiger ready to pounce: "I wonder if I have the honor to challenge you, the pirate with a bounty of 2.8 billion?"
"There's something I must clarify—I'm not a pirate."
Caesar beckoned to Mr. 1: "But I assume you won't be particular about such identity issues?"
Swish—
A flash of cold light appeared, and five blades suddenly slashed toward Caesar's neck!
The blades passed through Caesar's neck without obstruction, leaving a smooth cut in the chair behind him.
"Eh?! Did I take him down?!"
Seeing the blood flowing from Caesar's neck, Galdino's eyes bulged.
Wasn't he the 2.8 billion bounty criminal? How could he be taken down by Mr. 1?
Did he let his guard down?
"This sensation… something's off!"
Mr. 1's eyelids twitched; in that instant, it felt as if he had struck a mass of liquid!
Before he could think further, a sudden flash of red appeared before him, and his body was sent flying, a massive wound appearing on his chest, blood spraying out, and intense pain surged through him, rendering him powerless in an instant!
Looking at Caesar, he found the other party leaning back in his chair, holding a coffee cup, stirring it casually.
"Less milk, please."
"Sure, sure, just a moment."
Hearing Caesar's request, Galdino, still in shock, hurriedly fetched milk to add to Caesar's coffee, looking like a sycophant.
"Taking a shot at me once, you've shown that guy enough mercy."
Caesar glanced at Mr. 1: "Your qualifications are decent; it would be a pity for you to die like this. Out of respect for your loyalty, I'll give you this one chance, but only this once."
Mr. 1 clutched his chest, falling into silence.
Until Ms. Shandia stepped forward to help him sit up, he finally bowed his head to Caesar.
"BOSS!"
"Don't call me BOSS!"
Caesar shook his head repeatedly, looking disgusted, as blood mist enveloped the room, and a brief flash of crimson appeared in Mr. 1's eyes as the wound on his chest rapidly healed.
"Hmm, just call me Your Majesty; it'll save you the trouble of changing your address later."
Your Majesty?!
Everyone's expressions varied; no one expected that Caesar intended to become an emperor!
Taking a sip of coffee, Caesar found Galdino's skills decent, but he still preferred coffee made by beautiful women.
"Your Majesty, are we to continue our previous work, take Alabasta, and establish a utopia?"
Galdino rubbed his hands eagerly, a sycophantic smile on his face.
"Of course not; I hate criminal organizations."
Caesar scoffed lightly: "I will take you to surrender to the Alabasta royal family, atone for your crimes, assist Princess Vivi in quelling the rebellion, and then remain in Alabasta as my representative."
"I see, so we're going to undermine the Alabasta royal family and become the true masters of this country?"
Galdino quickly flattered: "Ah, truly worthy of Your Majesty Caesar, indeed wise!"
"No, the country will still belong to the Alabasta royal family, at least for now."
Caesar shot a glance at the sycophant, saying lightly: "My goal is to conquer these seas."
"Alright, as expected—eh?!!!"
Galdino was about to continue flattering when he suddenly realized something was off, and after reacting, his eyes bulged in horror as he looked at Caesar.
"Conquer the seas? Become the ruler of the world? Just based on us?"
Bon Clay looked shocked, and even the usually taciturn Mr. 1 looked at Caesar in disbelief.
"Of course, you can't do it with just you."
Caesar chuckled: "But I don't only have you under my command; aside from Bon Clay and Galdino, I just need the others to manage Alabasta well."
Mr. 1 quickly spoke up: "Your Majesty, I…"
"You stay! I have use for the abilities of those two."
Caesar raised his index finger, speaking decisively: "I need someone strong enough to remain here. Of course, before I leave, I'll teach you some things to ensure you have enough ability to become the person in charge of Alabasta."
"Understood."
Seeing that Caesar didn't look down on him but rather trusted him with the position of Alabasta's leader, Mr. 1 felt inexplicably flattered.
"Now, I'll announce a few things. First, don't refer to yourselves by codenames anymore; it sounds shameful, and it's been a long time since you've had to call each other that."
"Also, as my people, pay attention to your image when you're out and about, especially you!"
Caesar said, pointing at Gem: "If I hear that my subordinates are fighting with snot outside, I won't hesitate to take you out."
Gem's expression changed, and he was instantly drenched in
cold sweat, hurriedly kneeling on one knee: "Rest assured, I will work hard to develop my Devil Fruit ability from now on!"
"Remember your words; the ability of the Explosion Fruit is good. If you can't handle it, I can always help it find a new host. Trust me, I have that ability."
Caesar stood up leisurely and strode toward the door.
"Let's go; come meet… the master of this country."